The present invention relates generally to rongeurs and, more particularly, to rongeurs and methods for removing tissue from a region of the spine of a patient.
It is well known to use rongeurs to remove tissue, e.g., nucleus pulposus, from a region of the spine. Rongeurs are surgical instruments for the cutting away of human tissue, and most commonly, cartilage and/or bone. Rongeurs are known to be used in the spinal canal and about delicate neural structures.
A rongeur with an elongated shaft may be inserted into the intervertebral space of a patient. Jaws on the end of the rongeur may be closed around a portion of the tissue to be removed, a portion of the material may be bitten off by the jaws of the rongeur and the rongeur may be removed from the intervertebral space removing the portion of the material held between the jaws of the rongeur.
Current rongeurs come in fixed angles such as straight 30-45 degrees up or 30-45 degrees down. The present invention attempts to solve this problem, as well as others.